MPs urge UK to cooperate with Sweden in Assange case

| | London
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MPs urge UK to cooperate with Sweden in Assange case

Sunday, 14 April 2019 | AFP | London

More than 70 British lawmakers have urged their government to prioritise any extradition bid Sweden might make  for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is also wanted in the United States.

Assange was arrested on Thursday at Ecuadorxand peers urge British Home Secretary Sajid  Javid to “give every assistance to Sweden should they want to revive  and pursue the investigation”.

British law states that if Sweden does make an extradition request,  it would be up to Javid to decide which should take precedence.

 “We must send a strong message of the priority the UK has in tackling  sexual violence and the seriousness with which such allegations are  viewed,” the letter says.

The sexual assault claim expired in 2015 and Swedish prosecutors  dropped a preliminary investigation into the rape allegation in 2017,  arguing that since Assange could not be reached, they could not proceed.

Following his arrest, however, the alleged rape victim asked that  her case now be reopened — but the limitation period on this claim  expires in August 2020.

“We do not presume guilt, of course, but we believe due process  should be followed and the complainant should see justice be done,”  the letter says.

The MPs and peers add that it is “of grave concern to us” that the  Swedish authorities did not appear to have prior warning of Assange’s  arrest, unlike the US authorities.

The letter was also copied to Diane Abbott, the home affairs spokeswoman  for the main opposition Labour party.

Abbott said: “Assange skipping bail in UK, or any rape charge that  may be brought by Swedish authorities shouldn’t be ignored.

“But the only extradition request is from USA, because he’s a whistle-blower  on atrocities caused by US military ops. This extradition would be  wrong so we oppose it.” Assange is currently being held at the high-security  Belmarsh jail in southeast London.

The 47-year-old Australian claims the Swedish cases against him were politically motivated, linked to the leak in 2010 of a huge number of US military and diplomatic documents.

 

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